To reduce a fraction to the lowest terms equivalent: divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, GCF
To calculate the greatest common factor, GCF:
- 1. Factor the numerator and the denominator (into prime factors), build their prime factorizations.
- 2. Multiply all their common prime factors, taken by the lowest exponents.
1. Factor the numerator and the denominator:
To factor a number (into prime factors) - or, in other words, to break it down to prime factors - or, in other words, to build its prime factorization: find the prime numbers that multiply together to get that number.
The prime factorizations:
Written with exponents:
24 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 = 23 × 3
24 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
500,000,044 = 2 × 2 × 43 × 457 × 6,361 = 22 × 43 × 457 × 6,361
500,000,044 is a composite number.
24/500,000,044 =
(24 ÷ 4) / (500,000,044 ÷ 4) =
6/125,000,011
Yet another method to reduce the fraction
To reduce a fraction without calculating the GCF: factor its numerator and denominator, then all the common prime factors are easily identified and crossed out.
24/500,000,044 =
(23 × 3)/(22 × 43 × 457 × 6,361) =
((23 × 3) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 43 × 457 × 6,361) ÷ 22) =
(2 × 3)/(43 × 457 × 6,361) =
6/125,000,011
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
6/125,000,011 =
6 ÷ 125,000,011 =
0.000000048 ≈
0